Negotiators of Iran and six world powers face each other at a table in the historic basement of Palais Coburg hotel in Vienna April 24, 2015. (Reuters / Heinz-Peter Bader) / Reuters

As negotiators are about to gather in Vienna for the final round of talks on Iran’s controversial nuclear program, the US is offering concessions to Tehran to sweeten the deal, a draft document detailing would-be deal’s term shows.

The negotiations between
Iran and six leading world powers are to kick off in the Austrian
capital, Vienna, on Friday, with deadline set for June 30.
Diplomats however indicated that the talks may drag past the
date, as was the case with the previous round that produced a
preliminary agreement, which seeks to scale down the program in
exchange for lifting of international sanctions.

As the hard talks are
set to start, the US is willing to offer concessions to Tehran
that would boost its civilian nuclear industry, AP reported
citing a confidential document perpetrating to the deal. The
draft is one of several technical appendices meant to detail the
terms, and it has dozens of text marked by brackets that indicate
wordings over which the parties do not agree.

Titled ‘Civil Nuclear Cooperation’, the eight-page document
details the practical steps that the US, the UK, France, Germany,
China and Russia are willing to offer to compensate Iran the
closure of parts of its nuclear program through cooperation.

One of the stumbling blocks is the fate of Arak heavy water
reactor that Iran is in the final stages of constructing. The
reactor would be capable to produce plutonium, a fissile material
that can be used to make a nuclear weapon. The draft document
offers rebuilding the facility to a more proliferation-friendly
light water reactor, with sensitive technology and know-how
transferred to Iran. Tehran would retain “the leadership role as
the project owner and manager,” the draft said.

The document also offers arrangements for the underground uranium
enrichment facility in Frodo, which would be converted with
international help to produce radioactive isotopes for medical
and scientific purposes. The facility is believed to be highly
resistant to potential airstrikes and the US has been insisting
on its conversion.

The concessions offered however may give ammunition to critics of
the would-be deal both in US and internationally, who believe
that it would give too much ground to Iran and puts too little
restrictions on its nuclear program. On Wednesday several former
US officials, including President Barack Obama’s former Iran
advisor Dennis Ross published an open letter calling on Washington to seek a
stronger deal.

“We know much about the emerging agreement. Most of us would
have preferred a stronger agreement,” the group, which also
includes former CIA head David Petraeus, Stephen Hadley, former
national security adviser to President George W Bush, and General
James Cartwright, former vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff.

“We fear that the current negotiations, unless concluded
along the lines outlined in this paper and buttressed by a
resolute regional strategy, may fall short of meeting the
administration’s own standard of a ‘good’ agreement,” they
said.

The White House deflects criticisms that the potential deal would
be ‘bad’ voiced by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and other
officials and experts, saying that it would be as good as it can
be realistically expected and that it would significantly reduce
the risk of Tehran rushing to obtain nuclear capability.

Iran denies any intention to build a nuclear weapon and says it
needs a nuclear industry for civilian purposes only. Opposition
to the upcoming deal remains strong inside the Islamic Republic
as well, as fears linger that the negotiators would concede too
much of Iran’s treasured nuclear advances.

On Tuesday Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
reiterated his position, saying that no deal would be made that
would allow international inspectors to visit military
facilities. Tehran is concerned that such inspectors would double
as spies for the US and its allies. Washington says it wants such
inspections to maintain a robust verification regime to ensure
that Iran is sticking to its part of the bargain.